Damien boys basketball coach Michael LeDuc earns 900th victory

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Damien head coach Mike LeDuc is mobbed by his players after his 900th career victory against Rancho Cucamonga at Damien High School in La Verne on Friday, Jan. 19, 2018. Damien defeated Rancho Cucamonga 81-67. (Photo by Keith Durflinger, San Gabriel Valley Tribune/SCNG)

Damien’s Malik Thomas (1) dunks a basket as they play Rancho Cucamonga in their Baseline league game at Damien High School in La Verne on Friday, Jan. 19, 2018. Damien defeated Rancho Cucamonga 81-67. (Photo by Keith Durflinger, San Gabriel Valley Tribune/SCNG)

Damien head coach Michael LeDuc argues a call as they play Rancho Cucamonga in their Baseline league game at Damien High School in La Verne on Friday, Jan. 19, 2018. Damien defeated Rancho Cucamonga 81-67. (Photo by Keith Durflinger, San Gabriel Valley Tribune/SCNG)

Damien students react as Malik Thomas (1) dunks a basket as they play Rancho Cucamonga in their Baseline league game at Damien High School in La Verne on Friday, Jan. 19, 2018. Damien defeated Rancho Cucamonga 81-67. (Photo by Keith Durflinger, San Gabriel Valley Tribune/SCNG)

Damien head coach Michael LeDuc talks with Dirk Helaire (12) as they play Rancho Cucamonga in their Baseline league game at Damien High School in La Verne on Friday, Jan. 19, 2018. Damien defeated Rancho Cucamonga 81-67. (Photo by Keith Durflinger, San Gabriel Valley Tribune/SCNG)

Damien’s Cameron Shelton (20) tries for a shot against Rancho Cucamonga’s Myles Jones (33) in their Baseline league game at Damien High School in La Verne on Friday, Jan. 19, 2018. Damien defeated Rancho Cucamonga 81-67. (Photo by Keith Durflinger, San Gabriel Valley Tribune/SCNG)

Damien head coach Mike LeDuc is mobbed by his players after his 900th career victory against Rancho Cucamonga at Damien High School in La Verne on Friday, Jan. 19, 2018. Damien defeated Rancho Cucamonga 81-67. (Photo by Keith Durflinger, San Gabriel Valley Tribune/SCNG)

Damien head coach Mike LeDuc talks to his players after his 900th career victory against Rancho Cucamonga at Damien High School in La Verne on Friday, Jan. 19, 2018. Damien defeated Rancho Cucamonga 81-67. (Photo by Keith Durflinger, San Gabriel Valley Tribune/SCNG)

Damien head coach Mike LeDuc is mobbed by his players after his 900th career victory against Rancho Cucamonga at Damien High School in La Verne on Friday, Jan. 19, 2018. Damien defeated Rancho Cucamonga 81-67. (Photo by Keith Durflinger, San Gabriel Valley Tribune/SCNG)

Damien’s Cameron Shelton (20) grabs a rebound over Rancho Cucamonga’s Jacob Stock (43) in their Baseline league game at Damien High School in La Verne on Friday, Jan. 19, 2018. Damien defeated Rancho Cucamonga 81-67. (Photo by Keith Durflinger, San Gabriel Valley Tribune/SCNG)

Damien’s Malik Thomas (1) and Rancho Cucamonga’s Myles Jones (33) battle for a rebound in their Baseline league game at Damien High School in La Verne on Friday, Jan. 19, 2018. Damien defeated Rancho Cucamonga 81-67. (Photo by Keith Durflinger, San Gabriel Valley Tribune/SCNG)

Damien head coach Mike LeDuc talks to his players after his 900th career victory against Rancho Cucamonga at Damien High School in La Verne on Friday, Jan. 19, 2018. Damien defeated Rancho Cucamonga 81-67. (Photo by Keith Durflinger, San Gabriel Valley Tribune/SCNG)

Rancho Cucamonga’s Kelvin Wright Jr. (41) goes for a rebound in their Baseline league game at Damien High School in La Verne on Friday, Jan. 19, 2018. Damien defeated Rancho Cucamonga 81-67. (Photo by Keith Durflinger, San Gabriel Valley Tribune/SCNG)

Damien head coach Mike LeDuc is mobbed by his players after his 900th career victory against Rancho Cucamonga at Damien High School in La Verne on Friday, Jan. 19, 2018. Damien defeated Rancho Cucamonga 81-67. (Photo by Keith Durflinger, San Gabriel Valley Tribune/SCNG)

Damien’s Malik Thomas (1) lays up a shot as they play Rancho Cucamonga in their Baseline league game at Damien High School in La Verne on Friday, Jan. 19, 2018. Damien defeated Rancho Cucamonga 81-67. (Photo by Keith Durflinger, San Gabriel Valley Tribune/SCNG)

Damien plays Rancho Cucamonga in their Baseline league game at Damien High School in La Verne on Friday, Jan. 19, 2018. Damien defeated Rancho Cucamonga 81-67. (Photo by Keith Durflinger, San Gabriel Valley Tribune/SCNG)

Damien plays Rancho Cucamonga in their Baseline league game at Damien High School in La Verne on Friday, Jan. 19, 2018. Damien defeated Rancho Cucamonga 81-67. (Photo by Keith Durflinger, San Gabriel Valley Tribune/SCNG)

Rancho Cucamonga head coach Bill Burke shouts to his players in their Baseline league game at Damien High School in La Verne on Friday, Jan. 19, 2018. Damien defeated Rancho Cucamonga 81-67. (Photo by Keith Durflinger, San Gabriel Valley Tribune/SCNG)

Damien’s Malik Thomas (1) and Rancho Cucamonga’s Jacob Stock (43) battle for a rebound in their Baseline league game at Damien High School in La Verne on Friday, Jan. 19, 2018. Damien defeated Rancho Cucamonga 81-67. (Photo by Keith Durflinger, San Gabriel Valley Tribune/SCNG)

Rancho Cucamonga’s CJ Stroud (23) tries for a shot over Damien’s Austin Cook (44) in their Baseline league game at Damien High School in La Verne on Friday, Jan. 19, 2018. Damien defeated Rancho Cucamonga 81-67. (Photo by Keith Durflinger, San Gabriel Valley Tribune/SCNG)

Damien’s Ifeanyi Okeke (22) tries for a loose ball as they play Rancho Cucamonga in their Baseline league game at Damien High School in La Verne on Friday, Jan. 19, 2018. Damien defeated Rancho Cucamonga 81-67. (Photo by Keith Durflinger, San Gabriel Valley Tribune/SCNG)

The possibility of Damien boys basketball head coach Michael LeDuc earning his 900th victory wasn’t brought up the entire night.

The Spartans wanted to avoid any bad luck that might come their way in their Baseline League matchup against Rancho Cucamonga at home on Friday.

Things got off to a rocky start, but Damien rebounded for an 81-67 victory that netted LeDuc his milestone victory.
For LeDuc, it’s just another win.

“I try not to give it a lot of thought, I really don’t,” LeDuc said.

“I’m glad (the administration) gave me an opportunity to come back here. This is home. This is where I started coaching, so I’m glad I had the opportunity to come back. It’s been great, the players are great, everybody’s been great.”

Damien (18-3, 3-1) played without Sacramento State commit Elijah McCullough because of the flu.

“He does so much for the team but without him, we had a lot of guys step up,” Shelton said. “Jacob (Ortega) stepped up. Malik (Thomas) stepped up. Ifeanyi (Okeke) came in, stepped up and I’m proud of the guys.”

The Spartans and Cougars (17-5, 1-3) started the game playing at a high pace and each turned the ball over at least twice within the first two minutes.

The pace forced both teams into poor shooting, with the Spartans shooting 32 percent and the Cougars hitting 30 percent.

“We haven’t had a good first quarter (all season), with the exception of the last game against Los Osos,” Shelton said. “But we’re really resilient and with great conditioning, we were able to bounce back in the second and third quarter.”

Rancho Cucamonga’s poor shooting continued, but Damien’s presence under both ends of the post helped the Spartans outscore the Cougars 21-14 in the second quarter.

“The first half was all about offensive rebounding,” Rancho Cucamonga head coach Bill Burke said. “We did not run the basketball and that’s what killed us. If we rebound the basketball, it’s a lot closer and we’re not down by eight. With every ball, we gave them too many second-chance points. Way too many.”

The Cougars went toe-to-toe with the Spartans to start the third quarter, but Shelton’s presence in the paint lead Damien to an 11-point lead.

“We knew if we would just get a run going and have a good spurt of two or three minutes, we could jump it up,” LeDuc said. “We did, but it took us a while to do it.”

Damien guard Eric Hancik banked in a 3-point shot to start the final quarter before Shelton hit 9 of 10 shots from the free-throw line. Thomas added seven in the quarter and closed out with a one-handed dunk to seal the win.

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